Canadian immigration policy is in the spotlight. On Oct. 24, the government cut immigration targets through 2027. Days earlier, an Environics poll revealed that, for the first time in decades, fewer than half of Canadians support immigration.
The recent shift in public support for immigration is significant. Rising living costs have made Canadians wary of high immigration numbers. While many recognize the need for skilled professionals, there’s a growing belief that Canada has admitted too many temporary residents in recent years.
Canadians’ concerns are valid, but there’s another risk: Canada could lose its appeal to potential immigrants. The next wave of skilled young graduates—doctors, nurses, engineers—from countries like India, Nigeria, and the Philippines may choose other destinations if we can’t sustain our reputation as a land of opportunity.
Canada has long attracted skilled professionals seeking better lives, but countries with faster-growing economies may outcompete Canada for talent, especially in industries with chronic labour shortages. Our ability to attract skilled immigrants, particularly in health care, matters a lot. An estimated 6.5 million Canadians are already without access to reliable primary care, and the situation is worsening every year.
Physicians and nurses are in high demand worldwide, and yet Canada struggles to integrate immigrant health-care professionals into our system effectively. As of 2023, only 58 percent of the internationally trained doctors who live in Canada worked in health occupations, largely due to the steep barriers to reaccreditation.
Meanwhile, Australia is launching a fast-track registration pathway for internationally trained medical specialists this year, an initiative that makes Canada less attractive to the internationally trained medical professionals we urgently need. Canada needs to do better.
The risk is not only that the most valuable international talent eschews Canada, but that immigrants with the highest levels of education, and the skills in highest demand may leave. This appears to be happening with increasing frequency.
A new report from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) and Ipsos, released this week, has found that more than a quarter of newcomers surveyed report that they are likely to leave Canada within the next two years. The results are even worse for those with the highest levels of education and language skills: 30 percent of the economic-class immigrants polled said they were likely to leave.
If we cannot retain economic immigrants, and if we cannot attract and integrate enough new economic immigrants to replace outflows, Canada’s productivity will continue to suffer. We’re already lagging behind the United States on productivity by almost 30 percent and predictions for future growth predictions for Canada relative to our G7 competitors are bleak.
Economic immigration should play a role in reversing this trend, but that will only happen if we allow newcomers to work at the top of their skill levels. This means getting licensed professionals relicensed much faster. Canada’s Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) Program is a complex, fragmented system overdue for simplification and standardization. Regulators need to reform their exams, their expectations for local work experience, and lengthy timelines.
For those who have already proven their skills abroad, becoming a doctor, accountant, dentist, or engineer again in Canada should not take years for people who have already developed proven skills abroad, and it should not cost tens of thousands of dollars.
We must change this. When immigrants are empowered to maximize their economic potential, they not only boost productivity but also strengthen public confidence in immigration and solidify Canada’s reputation as a premier destination for global talent. As birthrates decline, Canada’s future prosperity depends on immigrants thriving here. Without bold action on immigration policy and integration, Canada’s success in the coming decades is at risk.
